Chaldon’s only infant school could be at risk of closing if it doesn’t expand to provide education up to year six.

Parents of children at St Peter and St Paul Infant School have set up an action group and launched an online petition, that has so far received more than 500 signatures, in support of the proposed expansion to cover Key Stage Two.

The proposal has been made in response to nearby St John's Primary School in Caterham undergoing a consultation and that could see them dropping from three year three classes a year to two.

St John's is one of the main junior schools that pupils from St Peter and St Paul's move on to however the Caterham school has been losing money after consistently failing to fill a third class.

"If we have no school to feed into and it will be hard to find a place nearby then people will start pulling their kids out or not apply for their kids to go and my personal opinion is it [the school] could close within four or five years.

“It has started already, people are getting scared and those parents applying are thinking what will we do when they are looking for place from year three.

Parents from St Peter and St Paul School, led by Victoria Stubbs (third from left) fear the school could close if it does not expand (Image: Grant Melton)

"The next logical step in the schools future is to expand regardless of what happens with St John's.

“Surrey County Council have a £354 million five year capital investment to help additional needs for schools and the 2016 organisation report states a preference for all-through primary schools.”

Several parents have spoken about the need for the school to continue.

Father of two Adam Robinson, of Willey Broom Lane, whose three-year-old daughter attends the attached pre-school said: “We moved here from Whyteleafe as it's right by the school that has the best Ofsted report I could find in the area.

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"The talk about St John’s has made us quite concerned, it is a worry about its future and it makes us think we should have signed our daughter and son up to private school when they were born.

“I would rather they stayed in state education but we could be left with nothing around so if it gets key stage two then that would be fantastic.”

Proposals were discussed at a private meeting of teachers, parents and councillors last Thursday evening (November 2) at the school after the Diocese of Southwark released a statement supporting the plans for an incremental expansion from next September.

A statement from Southwark Diocesan Board of Education reads: “The preferred option is an expansion in the age profile of pupils taught at St Peter and St Paul in order to promote continuity of education and not to separate siblings.

St Peter and St Paul Infant School, Chaldon (Image: Grant Melton)

“A feasibility study is being conducted by the Diocesan Board of Education on the expansion of the age group.

"The Board are actively procuring funding for any anticipated long-term building needs.”

It was stated during the meeting that the school has the facilities to add on one school year within its existing building’s but would have to build or find space for a three further classrooms going forwards.

Tandridge District councillor Patrick Cannon mentioned in the meeting that the Chaldon Village Hall nearby could be used if the school were ever to relocate.

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He said: “The expansion of the school would be fantastic, it’s something I’m definitely for, they have plenty of green space to the rear for them to expand.

"We are in the early drawing stages but hypothetically were the hall ever to move, its right next to the school and could help St Peter and St Paul’s.”

Issues raised about the expansion are the lack of parking spaces and the potential increased congestion at peak times on Rook Lane.

St John's Primary School’s consultation, which runs until Friday, November 17, has been launched because the school has struggled to fill three classes a year in each of the last five years, with a number of parents choosing to enroll their children in private schools.

The school currently takes pupils from reception until year two (Image: Grant Melton)

St John’s Primary head teacher Robert Veale, said: “We have had 21 children join for this year but have an average of only 18.

"Classes are made up of 30 children so we have 48 places in the school which are vacant and not being filled.

"We still have to have the same number of teachers [to cover the empty places] but we just can’t continue with this many teachers.”

Mr Veale added that this year they have started the practice "vertical grouping" on Friday afternoons, whereby classes with low numbers across two years are grouped together.